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Monday, August 20, 2012

If We Fall In Love, We'll Get Married, he said

While she was considering a subject to expound about...another sunflower was doing what sunflowers do...reaching for the Sun

About 18 years or so ago, she had been working as a Design Homer for a big box store for about six months when a hotdog vendor set up camp just inside the main entry door that customers were funneled through (as well as workers required to enter through since there was a camera documenting their every comings and goings).

She must have passed him numerous times without giving it any thought and scarcely noticing him. He was charming though, and it wasn't long before he snared her into his web...

"Hey Jackie, come over here."

"What for?"

"Just come 'ere a minute. I want to show you something."

pogs

At that time, pogs were a phenom. He wanted to show her his son's huge pog collection.

Well, it only interested Ms. SpoolTeacher because her nephew was also collecting them and was just about the same age as his little son.

The truth was, Mr. HotDog was cute and charming and big and manly.

Okay, it wasn't long before they were dating...

It started with a halloween party he invited her to. When she arrived at his door, (Yes, it would have been backtracking for him to come and get her and she was very independent anyhoo. That's her story and she's sticking with it.) he was dressed as a baseball player (because he was one every weekend and it was his favorite thing next to music) and he was dancing around playing a harmonica.

Ms. SpoolTeacher dressed up as a witch and carried a broomstick.

Mr. HotDog was very impressed that she pulled off such a good costume on such short notice.

They went to the party and Ms. SpoolTeacher tended to lurk in the periphery, taking note of Mr. HotDog/Baseball Player's behavior.

She sort of fell in love....

Everyone followed him around and hung on his every word. He however, remained subtle, calm, matter of fact and well....darn charming. His voice was sweet and melodic. He was gentle to his admirerers and he came sauntering over with a plate of crackers, cheese, and nibblie things and sat down next to Ms. SpoolTeacher and offered it to her.

Love at first bite...

Mr. HotDog got bored easily, tending the hot dog stand, and would sit on his folding beach chair and pretend he was at a lake...he would also write. Write whatever was in his head as a story.

"Come 'ere a minute, Jackie", he said in his sweet melodic voice. "I wrote a story and I want you to read it and tell me what you think."

Of course, Ms. SpoolTeacher had gotten to know him quite well by that time and could read very easily between the lines. It was a story about him. He called it "The Little Christmas Tree", but it was all about him.

Ms. SpoolTeacher didn't like the way he abruptly ended it with the poor Little Christmas Tree laying dead in the street so early on after Christmas. He asked her to fix his spelling and grammar but he didn't tell her to edit it and add a different ending and then let her mother read it and change it some more....

It kind of made him mad, but he respected Ms. SpoolTeacher and thought she might have a point about the ending.

Well, as all good love stories go, they broke up and have been talking on the phone ever since. Ms. SpoolTeacher finally had to leave the big box store to put enough distance between them. She sent the original copy of the story back to him in a fit and only had a poor copy remaining of which she has also given him copies of several times throughout their ups and downs and phone calls and decisions to finally do something about getting the Little Christmas Tree published and making them rich...

It's the tie that binds.

It's the child they never had.

So lately, Mr. HotDog asked her again, "What are you doing about the story?"

"Oh, I just want to illustrate it and I just don't feel like I have the skill I need to make the images that I want."

"I know you can do it", he said in his sweet, melodic voice while driving his truck talking on his cell phone with the wind blowing to the point of her barely able to hear what he said...

"It's just so hard to figure out how to depict a Christmas tree that knows how to play a harmonica and dance", she thought but didn't say....

"I'm workin on it."

At least it's not laying in a ditch dead with people passing by saying how sad it looks....

And if she has her way, when it does finally die, it will go to the shredder just like Kringo, Chipo, Kringo The Little Christmas Tree did and have a whole new life after that...